After Romania’s biggest protest in 27 years, the govt. backs down

With more than half a million people taking to the streets in protest of a controversial bill that would have protected several politicians from being prosecuted for corruption, the Romanian government has backed down and agreed to repeal the decree. The controversial bill was approved recently without discussing the same in the country’s parliament. However, the protests, the biggest in Romania in the last 27 years, will continue since there are reports that Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu still wants to push the bill. Sources said that the Romanian Prime Minister has asked the country’s justice minister to prepare a draft law, similar to one that was repealed today. He intends to get this approved in the parliament.

Confronted with a situation where their demands are unlikely to be accepted, the protestors are now demanding the resignation of the current government. The protestors said that the government buckled under pressure, but when people go back to their homes, the government will again introduce a similar bill and get it approved in the parliament. They also revealed that another similar bill is pending in the parliament, which, if approved, will free some officials imprisoned for corruption, terminate all investigations for pending corruption offenses and prevent further cases related to these offenses from being brought to justice. Due to such corrupt practices of the government, the protestors are asking for the government’s resignation.